In April, Lauren spent Paris marathon day on the pavement, cheering her brother Pete round the course while a calf injury kept her off the start line. I promised, on her behalf, that she would get her stand-alone marathon this year.
Six months later, she was on the Promenade des Anglais with 42.2 km of Riviera coastline between her and Cannes. I was a few rows back with a relay bib, and around us was a crowd of medical school friends, old and new.
Nice to Cannes in a nutshell
The Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes is the biggest marathon in France after Paris, and this was its 18th edition. It starts on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, hugs the coast almost the whole way, and finishes on the Croisette in Cannes. Your bib even doubles as a train ticket back. Very civilised.
Thumbs up in the start pen. For now.
Lauren: unfinished business
If you missed the Paris story, it is here: Paris, the marathon and a calf that had other ideas.
For context, Lauren usually runs her marathons at the end of an Ironman, after a 3.8 km swim and a 180 km bike. This time she got to start one on fresh legs. #ironmum
Today she crossed the line on the Croisette in 3 hours 54 minutes. Six months after a start line she never reached, the finish meant more than the number on the clock.
Pre-race shakeout swim in the Med. In November. Of course.
Why the relay is a brilliant way in
If a full marathon is not for you (or not for you yet), the relay is the answer. Teams of three to six share the 42.2 km between them, and you still get the whole day: the start on the Promenade, the crowds, the coastline and the medal on the Croisette.
Our team, the Hungovers (the name speaks for itself), was Kate, Heena, Alison and me. I took the first and last legs: 11.7 km out to Cagnes-sur-Mer, a train down the coast, a coffee and a pastry roughly the size of my head, then the final 7.2 km into Cannes. We finished in 4 hours 13 minutes.
Refuelling between legs. Sports science, Riviera style.
Why I would recommend it:
You get the full race-day experience without 42 km of fatigue on your own legs.
It suits mixed groups: friends, colleagues or a running club can all take part at very different levels.
It is a great stepping stone. Run one leg this year, and who knows about next year.
Team Hungovers. Four legs, four medals, no regrets.
A quieter moment
Race day fell on Remembrance Sunday. The evening before, we walked past the Monument aux Morts, Nice’s war memorial cut into the rock at the foot of Castle Hill, lit in blue, white and red and reflected in the wet paving. A still moment in a loud weekend, and a reminder that running along a coastline on a Sunday morning, purely because we want to, is a privilege.
The Monument aux Morts, Nice, on Remembrance weekend.
The bit that never makes the results page
Ask runners why they started and you will hear about fitness, weight or a bet in the pub. Ask why they are still running years later and the answer is nearly always people. The race is the excuse. The weekend is the point.
Med school friends, old and new. Medals on, glasses up.
Related reading
You may also enjoy: Paris, the marathon and a calf that had other ideas, Paris, the marathon and a calf that had other ideas (part two), Is running bad for your knees? A knee surgeon’s answer and A family summer in Vichy. You can find all of Nev’s articles on the blog.
